CONFETTI
Glamour! Style! Naked
nuptials! Anyone for tennis?
PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "Confetti"
By Omar P.L. Moore/September 13, 2006
Left: Hooray for Weddingwood!
Martin Freeman (Matt) and Jessica Stevenson (Sam) fashion their wedding after a
Hollywood musical. (All photos: Robert Goldstein/Fox Searchlight)
Right: Yes! Naked! Nice day for a naked wedding: Olivia Colman
(Joanna) and Robert Webb (Michael) ambitiously plan to be married in their
birthday suits, in an early scene in "Confetti."
At the chapel with balls (not
bells) on: Vincent Franklin as the hilarious wedding planner Gregory, Heather
MacNeill (Isabelle) and Jason Watkins as the inscrutable and exacting Archie,
the wedding planner and partner of Gregory, in Debbie Isitt's warmly
entertaining "Confetti."
Game, set and match: wedding encounters of the most creative kind can be found
in Debbie Isitt's hysterically entertaining "Confetti", a film firmly rooted in
the tradition of great mock documentaries like "A Mighty Wind", but especially
"Best In Show." Both of those films were created and directed by
Christopher Guest. In its own right Ms. Isitt's great creative work is
original, sharp, witty and engaging.
"Confetti" is the name of a glamour wedding magazine. This top British
fictional magazine offers prizes for who can execute the most creative (or
perhaps outrageous) wedding ceremony. A mansion house, a big-money prize,
and a picture on the coveted cover of the aforementioned Confetti Magazine
awaits the winning couple. Into the fray step three couples: naturists who
spend large chunks of time wearing their birthday suits in public (the groom is
adamant about having a naked wedding); a couple who want the most glamorous of
weddings, ala Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and the stuff of Hollywood
musicals; and a vain, self-absorbed, friend-less couple who are obsessed with
tennis.
Together these three eccentric British couples compete for the magazine prize,
and over an eight-or-nine-week period prepare for the final competition with the
help of two wildly neurotic wedding planners and partners Archie and Gregory --
a spectacle by themselves as they help to prep, choreograph and arrange the
weddings for the three couples. The planners are at the heart of this
film, and they are absolutely hilarious at times. Vincent Franklin plays
Archie, and Jason Watkins is Gregory. In one scene when Archie breaks down
under the strain and stress of orchestrating the farcical proceedings, Gregory
comforts him and says, "You're not supposed to cry. I'm the puff and
you're the straight man." Mr. Watkins plays Gregory very much in the vein
of British comic actor John Inman (he of the famous BBC television hit comedy
series of the 1970's, "Are You Being Served?"). And Watkins looks like
him. Anyone who has watched "Are You Being Served?" will instantly
recognize (or at least suspect) the homage to Inman.
There is a sense of pantomime, pomp and circus atmosphere, with a
tongue-in-cheek quality to all of "Confetti", a wild, rambunctious and laugh-out
loud adventure for grown-ups. Much if not all of the film was improvised,
with gut-busting lines punctuating the funny situations throughout. Ms.
Isitt has struck gold, and audiences will love this film.
The countdown from two months to one night before the wedding day competition is
separated by funny scenes and anxious moments throughout. Matt and Sam
(actors Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson) have to compete not just with the
two other couples, but with the ruptured separation of Sam's parents. Matt
is living under Sam's roof with her mother and sister Jen (a choreographer who
has grandiose ideas about Matt and Sam's wedding) and he is three seconds away
from exploding under the tension of the weeks leading to the wedding. Some
of the exchanges are more than humorous. Michael and Joanna (Robert Webb
and Olivia Colman) are the naturists whose ambitions for a naked wedding
potentially threatens their hopes of victory at least according to the
magazine's editor and contest holder Vivienne Kay-Wylie (Felicity Montagu).
Michael is liable to expose himself at mid-sentence, while Olivia sometimes has
her doubts about it all. Michael tries to reassure her that the nudity is
about "respect" and that he respects her. Josef and Isabelle (Stephen
Mangan and Canadian actor Meredith MacNeill) love tennis -- maybe too much.
Josef is an assertive man who lacks a huge amount of self-confidence, while
Isabella, a physically lithe athlete, finds a lot wrong with her own facial
features. They are a couple who are a love match and deserve each other.
Need they say anything at all? The picture speaks for itself, as Stephen Mangan and Heather MacNeill strike the pose as spouses-to-be Josef and Isabelle in Debbie Isitt's "Confetti".
Only the British can get away with such ribald humor in either a dry or lustily liberating way and make it pay off. You can think of films like "The Full Monty", "Waking Ned Devine" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to name just a few, and you may be able to imagine how much less entertaining these films might have been if they were made with mainly American actors. Doubtless, other countries' actors are likely able to pull off the feats that the British actors in "Confetti" do, but the stamp of the uniquely British humor beyond the stiff upper lip and the famous "no sex please, we're British" mantra puts the country of Blair, Brown and Elizabeth II at the top when it comes to poking fun at themselves with the most self-deprecating humor imaginable. The situations and stresses of the wedding planning and the dramas that ensue are metaphors for the anxieties and human ingredients that the process of preparation for real weddings can bring: the obsessive and overbearing mother-in-law, the competitive sister-in-law, the excessive judgmental aspects, etc.
[As a caution, it is worthwhile noting that some audiences may
not find the humor of "Confetti" to be humorous enough to be enjoyable or
engaging. They may find it all (to coin an American phrase of sorts) "too
cute". Possibly they will be disappointed. If however, they liked
films like "The Full Monty" or "Four Weddings" then it will be near impossible
for them not to at least admire and appreciate "Confetti". Perhaps, dare
it be said, one's status as a prospective spouse at an upcoming wedding or a
recently divorced spouse might determine whether "Confetti" is a funny
experience. Or not. Enjoying this film may depend on the mood one is
in. One thing is certain: if one comes into this film in a bad mood, they
will leave it in an upbeat, hopeful and cheerful state of mind.]
Cheers! Comedy
actors in the game of love: comedic actors, all British, except for Canadian
Heather MacNeil (in the white coat). From left: Jessica Stevenson, Martin
Freeman, Stephen Mangan, the smiling Olivia Colman, and Robert Webb, pose for
the camera in "Confetti".
The actors are comfortable in front of camera and their
naturalness makes this film feel like a documentary. "Confetti" is a sheer
delight to experience. Funny beyond funny. The term "reality
television" is not one this reviewer wants to use -- the proceedings and
ambiance of what occurs in "Confetti" is much more entertaining and authentic
than anything that "reality" television has to offer. Farcical, highly
entertaining -- from start to finish "Confetti" is funny, hysterical and
heartwarming. One of the best and most entertaining films of 2006.
As Gregory the wedding planner might say: "Oh joy! Oh
perfection!"
Copyright 2006. PopcornReel.com. All Rights Reserved.
"Confetti" is rated is rated R for nudity (specifically male and female full
frontal nudity) and language. The film is 1 hour 34 minutes in length.